Jim Gaffigan: “This is my acting-for-more-than-10-minutes debut”

When Jim Gaffigan hears laughter from the audience while performing on stage in “That Championship Season “, he can gauge whether or not it’s the type he’s hoping for. “Hearing laughs, as a comedian, there’s a language to them,” explains the 44-year-old stand-up.

Opening March 6th, “That Championship Season” is the story of a high-school basketball coach and four former star players attending their 20th reunion. Gaffigan plays George, one of the players, now a local mayor and former most-popular kid now consumed by his political career and his waistline.

While Gaffigan landed one of the prime roles in the play, he is best known as a character actor and for doing stand-up, so he was the only actor required to audition for his part. “Everyone seems to be like, ‘Your Broadway debut!’ And I’m like, ‘No, this is my play debut. This is my acting-for-more-than-10-minutes debut.'”

Kiefer Sutherland, Chris Noth, Brian Cox and Jason Patric round out the rest of the cast.